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6GTRUSTWORTHINESSCONSIDERATIONS

byNGMNAlliance

Version: 1.0

Date: 04.10.2023

DocumentType: FinalDeliverable(approved)

ConfidentialityClass: P-Public

Project: 6GTrustworthinessConsiderations

Approvedby/Date: NGMNBoard,14September2023

ForPublicdocuments(P):

?2023NextGenerationMobileNetworksAlliancee.V.Allrightsreserved.NopartofthisdocumentmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeanswithoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromNGMNAlliancee.V.

TheinformationcontainedinthisdocumentrepresentsthecurrentviewheldbyNGMNAlliancee.V.ontheissuesdiscussedasofthedateofpublication.Thisdocumentisprovided“asis”withnowarrantieswhatsoeverincludinganywarrantyofmerchantability,non-infringement,orfitnessforanyparticularpurpose.Allliability(includingliabilityforinfringementofanypropertyrights)relatingtotheuseofinformationinthisdocumentisdisclaimed.Nolicense,expressorimplied,toanyintellectualpropertyrightsaregrantedherein.Thisdocumentisdistri-butedforinformationalpurposesonlyandissubjecttochangewithoutnotice.

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

Asthemobileindustrycontinuestolookatthenextgenerationofmobilenetworks,NGMNAlliance(NGMN)isfirmlyestablishedasaleadingforcedrivingdiscussionsonthedevelopmentof5Gandemerging6Gusecases[1].Whileattentionisoftenfocusedonextendingexcitingapplicationssuchasimmersiveextendedreality(XR),digitaltwin,interactingcobots,andtrustednativeAI,NGMNfirmlybelievesitisessentialtoestablishtheindisputabletrustworthinessofthe6Gnetwork.

Consideringthis,NGMNhasidentifiedseveraltechnologytrendsthatwillinfluencethetrustworthinessofa6GnetworkincludingnetworkAI,opensource,virtualisationandcontainerization,andquantumcomputingwhichmightbringnewsecuritythreats.6Gnetworksmustthereforehaveaninherenttrustworthinessdesigntopromotetheeffectivenessofsecurityprotectionandenhancetheabilityofprivacyprotection,suchastrustedcomputingandblockchain.

Inthesubsequentsectionsofthispublication,wepullallthesetechnologytrendstoge-ther,providingtheindustrywithcomprehensiveguidancetoensuretrustworthinessinthe6Gnetwork.Byembracingaholisticapproachtosecurityandprivacy,wecannotonlyenabletherealisationoffuture6Gusecasesbutalsosafeguardtheinterestsandtrustofend-users.

CONTENTS

01

INTRODUCTION 5

02

KEYDRIVERSOF6G

TRUSTWORTHINESS 6-7

Societaldemands

6

Networkevolutiondemands

6

Servicedrivendemands 6

Securitytechnologiesdrivendemands 7

3.1Enhancedhumancommunication 8

03

USECASESANALYSIS 8-11

DESIGNCONSIDERATIONSOF6G

TRUSTWORTHINESS 15-16

05

Decentralisedtrustfoundation 15

Dynamictrustmodel 15

Intelligentcollaboration 15

Securityasaservice 16

Trustandriskassessment 16

06

CONCLUSIONANDROADMAP 17

ABBREVIATIONS 18

07

Enhancedmachinecommunication 8-9

Enablingservices 9-10

Networkevolution 11

04

6GTRUSTWORTHINESS

REQUIREMENTS 12-14

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 19

REFERENCES 20

INTRODUCTION

Themobilenetworkisacriticalelementofbothsocietalandindustrialdevelopment.6GtelecommunicationssystemdevelopmentshavealreadybegunintheindustrywithNGMNhavingidentifiedthat6Gneedstobedrivenbysocietalgoals,marketexpectationsandoperationalnecessities.6Gwillenableandextendbothcurrent5Gusecasesaswellas6Genvisionedusescases[2].6Gmobilenetworkinfrastructuremustsupportcurrentandenvisio-nedusecasesandbeabletoadapttonewtechnologiesandberesilienttonewattackvectors.A6Gmobilenet-workshouldbetrustedtodelivertheseusecasesacrossseveraltrustworthinessaspectsincludingsecurity,privacy,reliability,resilience,andsafety[3].

Thetermof“trustworthiness”inthispublicationiscom-posedofthefollowingfiveaspectsbyreferringtotheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology’s[NIST]definition[3]withminoradaptationstothemobilenetworks:

Security:Theabilityofthemobilenetworkstoensurethatallitsinfrastructure,processes,mechanisms,protocolsandservices,physicalorcyber,areaffordedinternalorexternalprotectionfromunintendedandunauthorisedaccess,change,damage,destruction,oruse.Securityusuallyconsistsofthefollowingthreefacets:

Confidentiality:Preservingauthorisedrestrictionsonaccessanddisclosureoftheinformationbeingtransferredbetweenparties.

Integrity:Guardingagainstimpropermodificationordestructionofinformationintransitandincludesensuringnon-repudiationandauthenticity.

Availability:Ensuringtimelyandreliableaccesstoanduseofthemobilenetwork.

Privacy:Theabilityofthemobilenetworktoprevententities(people,machines)fromgainingaccesstoper-sonaldatastoredin,createdby,ortransitingamobilenetworkoritscomponentssuchthatindividualsorgroupscanobscurethemselvesorinformationaboutthemselvesfromothers.Privacyisaconditionthatresultsfromtheestablishmentandmaintenanceofacollectionofmethodstosupportthemitigationofriskstoindividualsarisingfromtheprocessingoftheirper-sonalinformationwithinoramongsystemsorthroughthemanipulationofphysicalenvironments.

Reliability:Theabilityofthemobilenetworktodeli-verstableandpredictableperformanceinexpectedconditions.

Resilience:Theabilityofthemobilenetworktowithstandinstability,unexpectedconditions,andgracefullyreturntopredictable,butpossiblydegraded,performance.

Safety:Theabilityofthemobilenetworkstoensuretheabsenceofcatastrophicconsequencesonthelife,health,property,ordataofmobilenetworksstakeholdersandthephysicalenvironment.Notethatalthoughmobilenetworkshavedifferentmechanismstoprotectthedataintransmission,thereisstillnowaytoguaranteetheauthenticityofthedataorigin.

Trustworthinessisrelatedtotheabilitytomitigatethesecurityrisksinthemobilenetwork.Eventhoughtheabovefiveaspectsareconsideredinthedesignphaseofthemobilenetwork,thetrustworthinessofthemobilenetworksystemismostlydependentonoperators’de-ploymentimplementationandconfiguration.Whenthefivedimensionsoftrustworthinessareapplied,acommonpracticeshouldbefollowedtoensuretherobustnessofthemobilenetworkwhileatthesametime,consistentmonitoringandassessmentisalsorequiredtoenhancethetrustworthiness.

Thispublicationfurtheranalysesthekeydriversandtypicalusecasesinrelationto6Gtrustworthinessanddeliversthe6Gsecurityrequirementscoveringtheaspectsofsecurity,reliability,privacy,resilienceandsafety.Sec-tion2investigatesthekeydriversof6Gtrustworthinessincludingsocietal,networkevolution,servicedrivenandsecuritytechnologydrivendemands.Section3detailsthespecificusecaseanalysiswithsecurityrisksandrequirementsanalysed,followedbyasummaryof6GtrustworthinessrequirementswithclassificationandconsolidationinSection4.NGMNprovidesguidancetothe6Gtechnologydesign,describedinSection5,inordertofulfilthetrustworthinessneedsforthecustomersandMobileNetworkOperators(MNOs).

KEYDRIVERSOF6GTRUSTWORTHINESS

SOCIETALDEMANDS

TheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoals(UNSDGs)haveidentifiedaccesstomobileconnectivityasakeydriverofsustainableeconomicgrowthandassociatedsocietaldevelopment.Publicsafetyanddataprivacypro-tectionsarethefoundationofsocietaldevelopment.6Gisenvisagedtofurtherenhancepublicsafetyanddataprivacywhileenablingsocietaldevelopmentthroughusecaseslikesmartcity,intelligentinteractivesystems,intelligentmedicaltreatment,smarttransportation,educationandsmartretail.Theseusecasesareimportantforboththedevelopmentandgrowthoftheglobalsociety.Significantexposureofprivacysystemsandheavyprocessingofuserdataapplications(e.g.,industrialintelligentcontrol,driverlessvehicles,virtualrealityandotherhigh-techrelatedindustries)willrequirefundamentalprotectionsbebuiltinto6G.Basically,thehighertheimpactofdataandcontrolsystemsexposure,themoreprotectionsandreliabilitythatneedstobebuiltin.Thismeans6Gtrustworthinessrequirementsmustalignwithsocietaldemandinsecuringanindividual’sdailyactivitiesandsocietalchallenges.

NETWORKEVOLUTIONDEMANDS

The6Gnetworkisexpectedtoprovidecoverageinhard-to-reachruralareas,andthismayincludenon-conventionalsolutionssuchasnon-terrestrialhigh-altitude-platformsorsatellite-basedservicestodelivermobileservices.Thisconvergencewillcreatemassivedataandresourceswhichwillincreasinglyrelyonreliablenetworkoperation.Furt-hermore,mitigationmustbeprovidedagainstvulnerabi-litiesinthenetworkduetocomponentandfunctionalitysplitsintroducedbyvirtualisation.Sensingnetwork,asa

newnetworkfeature,willintegratewithcommunicationcapabilitiestoachieveserviceintegration,whichwillde-mandagilesecuritymechanismnegotiationandultra-fi-ne-grainedsecurityscheduling.Tocontinuouslyimprovetheuserexperience,the6Gnetworkwillbecomemoredistributedandprovideuniqueservicescentredonusers.Thiswillrequireappropriateadaptationinthe6Gsecurityarchitecture.Ascomputingpowerbecomesthenewdriverofnetworkevolution,thecomputingcollaborationandintelligentconnectionwillbecomeinherentattributesofthenetwork,withbuilt-insecurityanessentialfeature.

SERVICEDRIVENDEMANDS

Theextensivecoverage,connectivityandreliablenetworkcapabilityof6Gwillenableitscommunicationinfrastruc-turetodevelopfromtheInternetofEverything(IoE)totheintelligentinternet.Itwillnotonlyprovidemorecoverage,butalsomakethedigitalworldandthephysicalworlddeeplyintegrated,people'sliveswillincreasinglyrelyonreliablenetworkoperation.Inthe6Gera,immersiveex-perience,telepresence,multimodalinteraction,sensingandXRtechnologymaybecomemainstreamapplications.Fromtheinterconnectionofallthingstointelligence,theservicevalueofthe6Gnetworkinthefuturewillalsobeenhanced,thiswillundoubtedlyhaveagreatimpactoninterestdrivenattackers.Manyofthoseservicesrequirehighdata-rates,lowlatencyaswellasprecisepositioningandsensing,servedbydifferentendpointsinthe6Gnet-work,e.g.,intheedgeorinthecloud.Forcriticalservicesastrictend-to-endisolationandprotectionofnetworkslicesincludingtheRadioAccessNetwork(RAN)mayberequired.6Gisthereforerequiredtoprovidestrongersecurityprotectioncapabilities.Atthesametime,duetotheenhancedflexibilityanddynamicexpansionofthenetwork,the6Gsecuritycapabilitiesarerequiredtobefine-grainedandflexibleondemand,toensurethedynamicadaptationofthenetwork,theuserdemandsandbusinessscenarios.

SECURITYTECHNOLOGIESDRIVENDEMANDS

Therapiddevelopmentofnewtechnologiesandnewideaswillbecomeoneofthekeydrivingforcesofsecurityevolution.Securitytechnologyismovingforwardswithmorenativeintelligenceandflexibility.Thedevelopmentofthesenewtechnologies/principleswillpromotetheeffectivenessofsecurityprotectionandenhancetheab-ilityofprivacyprotection.Itisnecessarytoconsiderhowtointroduceandapplythesenewtechnologiesin6Gtoimprovethelevelofsecurityprotection,suchastrustedcomputing,blockchain,zerotrust,etc.;Thedevelopmentofsometechnologieswillbringsomechallengestothesecurityoftheexistingcommunicationsystem.Forexam-ple,quantumcomputingtechnologybringsriskstotheexistingcryptosystem.Itisnecessarytoconsiderhowtodealwiththeimpactofsuchnewtechnologies.AIandMLareexpectedtobeintegratedbydesigninthe6Garchi-tecture,thoughthisbringsmorerisksandvulnerabilitiestothesystem,thesecanbeleveragedtoautomatedetec-tionofnewthreats,anomaliesandcyberattacks.FurtherAIcanassisttopredictthebreachriskofthedifferentassetsandnetworkfunctionsinthesystem,consideringtheindividualthreatexposuresothatcountermeasurestomitigatevulnerabilitiescanbeplanned.Anotherappli-cationofAIisendpointprotection,whereAIcandetectnovelmalwareandransomwarewheresignature-baseddetectionmechanismswouldfail.

USECASESANALYSIS

ENHANCEDHUMANCOMMUNICATION

Fromthesecurityperspective,XRimmersiveholographictelepresenceandmultimodalcommunicationfortele-operationseemslikelytoattractmoresecurityattacksbecauseofitscoexistencewithpotentialadversaryentitiesinanopenenvironmentanditsincreasedpointsofattackwithdatafrommultiplesourcesandsensors.Thethreatsandrequirementsnon-exhaustivelyincludethefollowing:

Privacyofhumanbiometricdata:Ononehand,inXRapplicationsbiometrics-basedauthenticationismorewidelyused,suchasfingerprint,eyescan,facerecogni-tionetc.Ontheotherhand,humancentricmultimodalsensorydataincludinghuman’saudio,video,taste,odour,hapticandemotioninformationcouldbetransferredinbulkintheoverallnetwork.Duetotheirrevocablenatureofhumanbiometricdata,itrepresentsaveryimportantprivacyissuetobetackledby6G.

Protectionoftheinterfacebetweenthephysicalandvirtualworld:XRimmersiveholographictelepresencecommunicationenablesthedigitalrepresentationofthephysicalworldinavirtualnetwork(digitaltwinnetwork).Duetothedenseandreal-timeinteractionbetweenthetwinnetworkandthephysicalnetwork,thevirtualtwinnetworkitselfmayhavevariousunknownsecurityvulnerabilities,andtheinteractioninterfacebetweenthetwowillbepotentiallyvulnerabletoexternalattacks,resultinginthevirtualtwinnetworkgivingwronginst-ructionstothephysicalnetwork,threateningthedevicesecurity,networksecurityandbusinesssecurityinthephysicalnetwork.Technologiestoensurethesecurityofthetwinnetworkitselfanditsinteractionwiththephysicalnetworkarethereforesignificant.

Preventionofdevicecompromise:Enhancedhumancommunicationreliesonthedeploymentofdevicesandsensorsinanopenenvironment,andhenceismoreindangerofbeingcompromisedthroughphysicalcontactorvisualobservationbyexternalattacks.Asaresultofdevicecompromise,user’scredentialscanbestolenordirectlyaccessed.Itisthereforecrucialtopreventanex-ternalattackfromdirectlyexploitingsuchacompromise.

PrivacyanddataprotectioninMetaverse:InMe-taverseanavatarrepresentingausercansmoothlytraversebetweendifferent“worlds”,allofwhichasawholecompriseaMetaverse.Agooddesignoffedera-tionofauthenticationandidentityisexpectedtoallowasmoothtraverseofanavatarbetween“worlds”.AMobileNetworkOperator(MNO)thatoffersasystemtoenterMetaverse,orotherbusinessentities,whicharesufficientlytrustedbyusers,maybeabletoassistrealisationofMetaverseinthisaspect.Ifauserisledtoamalicious“world“byafakeuserconsentforaprompt-lesstraversetothemalicious“world”,theusermightbeexposedtomaliciousactivities.Userconsentneedstobewellprotected,inparticularwithregardtointegrity.Anavataristobeuniqueandshouldnotbeeasilycopiedforusetorepresentsomeoneelse.Copyandreuseofavatardataneedstobeprevented.Whengivingtheuser’sinformationtoany“world”,nationaland/orregionalregulationanduser’sconsentneedstobeconsidered.

ENHANCEDMACHINECOMMUNICATION

Theenhancedmachinecommunicationcanbedescribedwithsomegenericusecasessuchasrobotnetworkfabricwhereforexampleautonomousmobilerobots,drones,automaticguidedvehicles(AGV)willbemovingthroughthesmartcityandprovideparceldeliveryservicesorservicesforpersonaluse.Theserobotscommunicatewithboththe6Gnetworkandeachotherandthecommunicationrequiresahighreliabilityandlowlatencytoavoidcollisi-ons.Toavoidaccidentsanddamagetohumans,robotsaswellastheircommunicationsmustbesecuredtoprotectagainsthijackingandmalevolentmanipulation.Sincetherobotsmoveautonomouslyandrelyontheinformationreceivedfromthenetworktotakedecisions,theintegrityoftherelevantdataneedstobeguaranteed.

Anotherfurtherenhancedusecasewillbeinteractingcollaborativerobots(cobots),cobotsprovideacloserinter-actionbetweenhumansandrobotsandshouldinterpretthehumanactionsinordertoassistthehumans.Thosecobotscouldbeaseparatemachineoramachineclosetothehumane.g.,exoskeletonoradaptivewheelchair.Thedetectionofthehumanactionmaybebasedonmachine

learningandartificialintelligence;thus,theintegrityofthemachinelearningmodelmustensureanyresultingdecisionofthecobotdoesnotleadtodamageorinjuriestothehumans.Furthercommunicationwithsensorsorthe6Gnetworkmustbeprotectedtoavoidfalsedecisionsthatleadtowrongactionsnotintendedbythehumans.Ingeneral,hijackingandmalevolentmanipulationonro-bots[4]canincludeintentionmodificationattacks,wherethecommandmessagesfromacontrollertotherobotaremodifiedtoredirectthemessagesortomodifythedataonthetargetrobot.IntentionmodificationattacksincludesDenialofServiceattacks(DoS).RobothaltingasaresultofaDoSattackmaycausetherobottostoporperformundesiredmovements.TherecanalsobeadelayinrespondingtodirectioncommandsforrobotssubjecttoDoSattacks,thusthattherobotathighspeeddoesnotreacttonavigationcommandsinstantlyandmaythereforecauseaccidents.

Intentionmodificationattacksareperformedbyanadver-saryasakindofmaninthemiddleattack(MitM)wherethemessagesfromtherobottothecontrolleraremanipulatedandthecontrolleridentifiesthemaslegitimatefeedbackandusesthemasinputforthenextcontrolmessageswhichcanleadtowrongcontroldecisions.

Thehijackingattackisverycrucialsincetheadversarytakesovercontroloftherobotandexecutescommandsnotintendedbythelegitimatecontrollerandcanleadtoservicedisruptionforthetimethehijackingattackiscarriedout.

For6Gmultidomainheterogeneousinterconnection,themassivediversityandconcurrencyofsensorsmayaccessthenetworkfrequently,lightweightaccessauthenticationmustbeenabledwithoutcompromisingsecurity.

TheevolutionofInternetofVehicles(IoV)willgeneratealargeamountofdatawhichshouldnotbetamperedwith.Theinformationexchangedincludestheintrinsicattributesofentitiesanddynamicinteractiondataofentities.Entityintrinsicattributesincludevehicleintrinsicinformation,suchasvehiclemodel,engineparameters,fuelconsumption,vehiclecondition,etc.UserprivacyinformationincludesIDcardinformation,phonenumber,drivers’licenseinformation,andbankaccount;inherentinformationaboutroadsidefacilities,suchassensortypeandlocation.TheIoVsourcetracingsystemisacontrolsystemthatcantrackdataintheIoVforward,backward,ordirectionless.Traditionalcentralisedsourcetracingsystems

maybeinvadedbyexternalhackers,andmaliciousentitiesinsidethesourcetracingsystemsmaybetamperedwithatlowcost.Thus,amoredecentraliseddatastorageandsourcetracingsystemneedstobeconsidered.

ENABLINGSERVICES

DataSecurityandprivacyarethecrucialaspectstomostoftheenablingserviceswhichrelyon6Gcommunicationsuchas3Dhyper-accuratepositioning,localisation,andtracking,interactivemapping,digitalhealthcare,automaticdetection,recognitionandinspection,smartindustry,andtrustedcompositionofservices.

Securityandprivacyinpositioning,localisation,andtracking:Positioningandtrackingservicesassociatedtodevicesusedbyhumanandnon-humanassetsarebothcriticaltosecurityandsafetyaspositioningservicecompromise(e.g.,tamperingofcommunicationlinks,gainingoflocationdataandcontrollingbyimpersona-tion)mayleadtoillegitimatetrackingofhumanusers.Similarlyfornon-humanassetssuchasdevices,objects,robots,drones,vehicles,positioningservicecompromisemayleadtovariousriskssuchasexecutingmaliciouscontrols,hijackofdevices,forcingintoaccidentstoimpactthedependentbusinessetc.

Datasecuritywithinteractivemappinganddigitaltwins:Asdigitaltransformationunlocksnewvalueitalsobringsnewthreatlandscape.Incaseofinteractivemappinganddigitaltwinsitisessentialtoidentifyandadoptmetricsthatdefineanaccuratevirtualdigitalmodelrelatedtoareal-timephysicalrepresentation.Lackofconformancetostandardmetricsforthevirtualdigitaltwinwillgreatlyimpactnotonlytheoperationanalysisandobservationsbutalsothesecurityandcyberresiliencewhentherespectivephysicaldeviceormodelisutilised.Furtheravirtualdigitalmodelduringitstes-ting,feedbackdriveniterativeconstruction,observationandanalysisphasecaninvolvemultiplestakeholderstocollaborateandoperatethevirtualdigitalmodel.Ifthevirtualdigitaltwinmodelprocessinginvolvesanybusiness-criticaldataorreal-timeuserdata,lackofsuf-ficientcriticaldatatranslationsandprocesshidingwillrevealthesensitivedatathusimpactingthebusinessandprivacyrequirement.

Securedatastorage,processing,andexposurecontrolfordigitalhealthcare:In-bodydevicesandwearables-baseddatacollection,processingandmedicalinferencedataexposurearecriticaloperationsassociatedtodigitalhealthcare.Ifanyofthedatalinksarecompromised,itmayleadtoseriousrisksassociatedtothehealthcaresystem’sreputation.Inmostofthecases,thedataprocessingassociatedtohealthcaremaybeprocessedattheend-deviceorifadvancedmedicalprocessingisrequired,thedatamaybeprocessedinindependentdevices/gateways,whereifsufficientdataprocessingsecurityandstoragesecurityisnotadopted,thismayleadtodataleakageanddatamanipulationforvariedreasons(e.g.,personalgainssuchasinsurancebenefits).Theprocessingdevicesshouldensurenon-repudiation(e.g.,withdistributedledgerssupportingbothonchainandoffchainstorage)andthecommunicationlinksshouldbesufficientlyauthenticated(i.e.,multimodal),authorisedandsecured.

Securityforintelligenceandautomation:Smartandintelligentdevicesareexpectedtobedeployedformonitoringservicessuchastomonitorvitalsignsinhealthcare/criticalunits,tomonitorpassengersandbelongingsduringsafetycheck-ins(e.g.,inairport),crowdscreening(e.g.,inanymallorsensitivepublicspots/privatesports)etc.Ifsuchmonitoringdevicesandassociatedcommunicationlinksarecompromised,falsereportingcanimpactpeoplewithseriouslegalconse-quences.Further,maliciouscontrolofsuchmonitoringdevicesduetovulnerabilitiesintheend-devicesorlackofsecurityinthecommunicationlinkcanprovidemal-icioususerswithaccesstosensitivedata.

Securityforresilientoperationsinsmartindustry:Smartindustryinvolvesautomationinproductdesign,factoryproductionlinesandsupplychainetc.Eachphaseinvolvesvariousdevices(i.e.,operationale.g.,manufacturingfunctionalunit,andassistancedevicessuchasAGVs),software,operator(e.g.,human)digitalcommunicationetc.Eachcommunicationlink,devicesandoperationaldataprocessesneedstobeaccounta-bleandauditableinreal-timetoensureoverallsecureoperation.

Trustedcompositeservicesanduser-controlledprivacy:Compositeservicesinvolvesconvergentnet-workstooffervariedon-demandend-userserviceswithenhancedhumanandmachinecommunication.Asitrequirestrustworthyrelationshipstobeset-upwhenanewon-demandserviceisrequestedbytheend-users/device,itisahugechallengetoofferidentityverificationcontrolincompliancewithallregionalregulations.Mostservicesubscriptionactivationsrequiresubmissionofuserdocuments(e.g.,passport,nationalidentitycard,drivinglicenseetc.)andverificationofuserdocumentsbythirdparties.Governmentdatabasesarealsousedtoenabletheserviceprovider(s)toperformidentityverification.Butiftheidentitydocumentsareforgedandmisusedbythethirdpartyoriftheidentityrelateddocumentarecompromisedatthethirdparty’spremise,itmayleadtoseriousissuessuchasserviceproviderfines(ifthebreachisidentified),serviceproviderreputationalharm[5],andtheend-usermayfacelegalissues,ortheirsafetyputatriskiftheiridentityismisused.Blockchainbaseddigitalidentitysuchasdecentralisedidentityandself-sovereignidentity[6]canenabletheend-userstohavecontrolovertheiridentity(i.e.,serviceidentity)andcontrolovertheidentityinformationdisclosed(e.g.,controlleddatadisclosure).

Overall,selectiveapplicationofsecuritybythecommunica-tionnetworkshouldbeavoided,e.g.,relyingon3rdpartyapplicationsecurityforsomeservicesandnotmandatingcommunicationnetworksecurity(i.e.,signallinganduserplane)fortheserviceswillend-upwithnosecuritybeingappliedforthecriticalservices.Inconclusionthereneedstobeastandardisedapproachtoco-ordinateandapplysecurityandprivacymeasures,aswellasthreatmitigationtechniquesasacommonsecuritybaselineforthe6Gde-pendentservices.

NETWORKEVOLUTION

Torealisethevisionof"smartconnection"inthe6Gera,artificialintelligencetechnologywillbefullyintegratedintothenextgenerationofmobilecommunicationsystems.ThedeepintegrationofAIand6Gnetworkwillbringnewopportunitiesforthebuilt-insecurityof6Gnetworks.Multi-dimensionaldataperceptionandlearningsuchasnetworkdata,businessdataanduserdata,willhelpthenetworksecurityintelligence,improvetheefficiency,flexibilityandsecurityautonomyofthecommunicationsystem,reducethenetworksecurityoperationcost,andbuildameasurableandevolvingendogenoussecurityprotectionsystem.

Basedonbigdataanalysistechnologyanddeeplearningalgorithmmodels,theexponentialgrowthof6Gnetworkdatacanbehandled;alsofeaturesofattackbehaviourandthreatintelligencecanbemodelledorextracted.Thesystem